Early in 2061, Clarke quotes Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses," in building his view of a 103-year-old man still anxious to set out to explore new worlds. He also plays on the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" in working out the premise that Jupiter's implosion threw diamond-quality quartz materials into Europa. Other allusions to popular culture traits of the last two decades are occasionally obvious in the text.